I understand that both the NDP and Liberal members may wish to make comments on the point raised by the President of the Treasury Board. The Chair will hold off on making a decision until they have the opportunity to obtain more information.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report entitled, "Canada's Engagement in Afghanistan, Quarterly Report to Parliament", for the period between April 1 and June 30.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian parliamentary delegation of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association respecting its participation in the meeting of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region held in the Komi Republic of Russia, September 28 and 29, 2011.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian parliamentary delegation of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association respecting our participation in the fourth part of the 2011 Ordinary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held in Strasbourg, France, October 3 to 7, 2011.

Among the issues that I joined in debating and addressing there included abuse of state secrecy and national security internationally, human rights and the fight against terrorism, protection of privacy and personal data on the Internet and online media, and controlling child prostitution and child pornography.

In addition, I and the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel met with the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in relation to its study on the effectiveness of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, OSME, and the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program.

Therefore, pursuant to Standing Order 109 the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be able to reintroduce this bill for the establishment and award of a defence of Canada medal for the men and women who served in the defence of Canada during the cold war. This act represents the hard work and vision of one of my constituents, retired Captain Ulrich Krings of Elliot Lake, who presented me with this proposal shortly after I was elected in 2008.

Its purpose is to formally honour the people who defended Canada from within Canada for the period from 1946 to 1989. As such, it is intended to be awarded to individuals who served in the regular and reserve forces, police forces, emergency measures organizations, as well as civil organizations, such as St. John Ambulance, all of whom were concerned with the protection of Canada from the threat posed by the countries behind the Iron Curtain.

This medal will recognize the support of the men and woman who gave countless hours to Canadians as they trained and prepared in case of an attack on Canadian soil, which fortunately never took place.

Their service to our country came at a time when we became aware of how fragile peace can be and how vulnerable we may become to advances in weapons of warfare. This medal would give something back to all those who worked in those years to keep us safe and prepared.

I thank my colleague from Thunder Bay—Rainy River for his continued support on this bill and for seconding this item for a second time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce a bill that I believe would improve democracy by expanding access to voting in Canada. This bill would extend the hours of voting in federal elections from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in every province and territory.

This is an important measure to standardize voting hours across the country. For example, currently voters in British Columbia vote between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., whereas voters in Ontario have until 9:30 p.m. to cast their ballots.

More important, this bill would improve the ability of every Canadian to exercise his or her democratic choice by extending the time period in which to cast a ballot.

Voter turnout in federal elections has been declining steadily since the mid-1980s. In the most recent federal election, voter participation was only 61%. There are many reasons for declining turnout but one of them is certainly the barriers people face to vote. Canadians lead lives that are busier than ever. There are single parents and families with two working parents. There are seniors who must rely on others to get them to the polls.

Our democracy is valuable. It is worth protecting. Expanding voting hours is a small but important step and I hope all members of the House will support it, with special thanks to my colleague, the member for Hochelaga for seconding this.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by over 100 constituents of Victoria who are expressing concern over Bill C-10 for two reasons.

They state that the costs have not been properly assessed and that the costs would fall to the provinces and would impact effective prevention programs. They are also concerned about the breadth and scope of the bill and they ask that the bill be divided so that it can be studied more attentively and more closely.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour today to present a petition that urges the Canadian government to continuously use every possible channel to call for an end to the persecution of the Falun Gong in China. This petition comes from Canadians right across this country.

Falun Gong is a peaceful and beneficial spiritual practice centred on the principles of truth, compassion, forbearance and a set of five meditation exercises. Falun Gong has been the most severely persecuted group in China since July 1999 when the Chinese Communist Party launched an eradication campaign against Falun Gong practitioners. The policy to destroy their reputation, bankrupt them financially and eliminate them completely has led to the arbitrary detention and torture of hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners for their beliefs.

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture reported that 66% of the victims of alleged torture and ill-treatment in China were Falun Gong practitioners. The cruelty and brutality of these alleged acts of torture defy description. More than 3,448 practitioners have been verified as having been tortured to death.

Free and democratic nations have a responsibility to condemn crimes against humanity wherever they occur. Therefore, the petitioners urgently call on our government to continuously use every possible channel to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong, especially at meetings with top Chinese leaders and at international fora and help rescue—

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition against the closure of the Marine Rescue Sub-Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

This petition has been signed by close to 100 members of the Canadian Marine Advisory Council, which is Canada's leading consultative body for all issues affecting maritime safety in Canada. These are members who come from every province in our country and some from our territories. They say that the decision to close the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre in St. John's is irresponsible, in fact a reckless decision, because it puts in jeopardy the lives of those who earn their living at sea and even those are vacationing on tour ships. They say we need to ensure that the centre continues to operate. We need to be able to take advantage of the local knowledge, the history and the skill set of the employees who work at the centre. The petitioners call on the government to rescind this reckless decision, change its mind and say we have to keep this open.

When a body like the Canadian Marine Advisory Council says that we should--

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure today to stand and present a petition from approximately 30 constituents from across this country asking for the government to de-fund the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. They point out that the Government of Canada funds the CBC by a sum of $1.1 billion per annum and that the vast amount of funding the government gives the CBC gives the CBC an unfair advantage over its private sector competitors. They call on Parliament to end public funding of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand today to introduce a petition signed by literally thousands of Canadians, who call upon Parliament to take note that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. In fact, they point that more Canadians now die from asbestos than all other industrial or occupational causes combined, yet we remain one of the largest producers and exporters in the world. Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to ban asbestos in all of its forms and institute a just transition program for asbestos workers and the communities they live in; to end all government subsidies of asbestos, both in Canada and abroad; and finally, to stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam Convention.